Westar Resources Ltd Airborne Xcite (ASX:WSR) ^MT Electromagnetic Survey (AEM) has identified four very promising conductors at the Opaline Well project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Systematic exploration to refine drill targets will focus on Anomaly 101 – considered the highest priority for follow-up work – and will consist of ground truthing during the next field campaign.

Westar’s top priority remains the progress of the Gidgee North project, where the company is due to begin a first drilling campaign at the end of the current quarter.

Anomaly 101 “exceptional target”

Westar Managing Director Karl Jupp said, “AEM geophysics and modeling have proven to be a fast and effective exploration tool, identifying several prospects for further evaluation.

“Anomaly 101 is the prime target and will be the focus of ground-truthing during our upcoming field campaign at Opaline Well.”

MEA survey

The AEM program was the next systematic step in identifying priority drill targets after a successful field reconnaissance and rock chip sampling program conducted earlier in 2021.

An AEM survey, using Excite from NRG ^MT The airborne electromagnetic system covered the entire duration of the project – approximately 70 square kilometers and 372 linear kilometers in a spacing of 200 meters.

The survey aimed to quickly identify discrete conductors representing potential massive sulphide drill targets.

A follow-up ground check is being planned.

Main area of ​​interest

The main area of ​​interest is Anomaly 101, which is a high amplitude, mid to late time EM anomaly and appears as a discrete, steeply dipping, relatively conductive body at depth.

A series of early temporal anomalies (201, 202 and 203) appear spatially related.

Additional ASTER, SENTINAL 2 and radiometric data indicate that anomalies 201, 202 and 203 are likely a more conductive underlying deeper body alteration product associated with anomaly 101, however, the possibility remains that they can potentially be related to surface cover and ground verification is mandatory.

The EM anomaly extends approximately 800 meters in strike length, with a depth to the center of the plate about 40 meters below surface to the south and 75 meters to the north, dipping steeply to the east.

Anomalies 200, 102, 103 and 104

Anomaly 200 is the highest amplitude EM anomaly in the study area, spanning nine flight lines (approximately 2 kilometers) and extending offshore from the edge of the study to the edges North and South.

The anomaly appears as a broad irregular asymmetric single peak anomaly with a very large early time anomaly, transitioning into a weak late time anomaly and has been modeled as a series of shallow plates at dipping to the west.

It is possible that the early, surface conductor was a product of weathering of the deeper conductor body, most likely a stratigraphic unit such as BIF.

Anomalies 102, 103 and 104 trend north-south along the western contact of the Euro Basalt (a mixture of basalt, komatiitic basalt, sills and volcaniclastic rocks) and the Cleaverville Formation (BIF, chert, sediments and volcaniclastic rocks) and seem related.

Flakes of the Wyman Formation (felsic volcanic and volcaniclastic and local sedimentary rocks) are also present in the area.

These anomalies are much smaller in magnitude than Anomaly 200 and it is possible that the same causal body type is responsible for these anomalies as Anomaly 200, most likely thin BIF units along a fault contact between the Euro Basalt and the Cleaverville Formation.

Next steps

Westar will integrate Newexco’s plate models and discovery results with other geophysical datasets to plan field reconnaissance during the upcoming field season.

Future work programs will include ground verification of identified anomalies, field mapping, rock chip sampling, and establishment of access and logistical constraints for potential future ground geophysics (such as the Loop mobile electromagnetic, the MLEM survey) and, if finally justified, drilling.